Products and processes for a point exchange

ABSTRACT

Methods of tracking points among participants in various wagers. An indication of a wager may be received, including point distributions, participants, an event, etc. An indication of an outcome of the wager may be received. Points may be allocated among participants in accordance with a desired point distribution based on the outcome of the wager. An indication of a point associated with an external exchange between participants in a wager. Other embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/608,822 filed Sep. 10, 2012 which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/859,821, filed Sep. 24, 2007 (now U.S. Pat. No.8,262,465 issued on Sep. 11, 2012), which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entireties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In thedrawings, each identical or similar component that is illustrated invarious figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes ofclarity, not every component may be labeled or act identified in everydrawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a computer system architecture that may be used to performone or more acts in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 shows example sets of database tables that may be maintained insome embodiments; and

FIG. 3 shows an example process that may be performed by someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Terms

The term “product” means any machine, manufacture and/or composition ofmatter, unless expressly specified otherwise. The term “process” meansany process, algorithm, method or the like, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. Each process (whether called a method, algorithm orotherwise) inherently includes one or more steps, and therefore allreferences to a “step” or “steps” of a process have an inherentantecedent basis in the mere recitation of the term ‘process’ or a liketerm. Accordingly, any reference in a claim to a ‘step’ or ‘steps’ of aprocess has sufficient antecedent basis.

The term “invention” and the like mean “the one or more inventionsdisclosed in this application”, unless expressly specified otherwise.The term “variation” of an invention means an embodiment of theinvention, unless expressly specified otherwise.

A reference to “another embodiment” in describing an embodiment does notimply that the referenced embodiment is mutually exclusive with anotherembodiment (e.g., an embodiment described before the referencedembodiment), unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having”, “containing”,“involving”, and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to”,unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean“one or more”, unless expressly specified otherwise. The term“plurality” means “two or more”, unless expressly specified otherwise.The term “herein” means “in the present application, including anythingwhich may be incorporated by reference”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The phrase “at least one of”, when such phrase modifies a plurality ofthings (such as an enumerated list of things) means any combination ofone or more of those things, unless expressly specified otherwise. Forexample, the phrase “at least one of a widget, a car and a wheel” meanseither (i) a widget, (ii) a car, (iii) a wheel, (iv) a widget and a car,(v) a widget and a wheel, (vi) a car and a wheel, or (vii) a widget, acar and a wheel.

The phrase “based on” does not mean “based only on”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. In other words, the phrase “based on” describesboth “based only on” and “based at least on”. Similarly, the phrase“based on” does not mean “based on the entirety of”, “based on all of”,or variations thereon, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The term “e.g.” and like terms mean “for example”, and thus does notlimit the term or phrase it explains. For example, in the sentence “thecomputer sends data (e.g., instructions, a data structure) over theInternet”, the term “e.g.” explains that “instructions” are an exampleof “data” that the computer may send over the Internet, and alsoexplains that “a data structure” is an example of “data” that thecomputer may send over the Internet. However, both “instructions” and “adata structure” are merely examples of “data”, and other things besides“instructions” and “a data structure” can be “data”.

The term “determining” and grammatical variants thereof (e.g., todetermine a price, determining a value, determine an object which meetsa certain criterion) is used in an extremely broad sense. The term“determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and therefore“determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving,investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database oranother data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining”can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g.,accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, “determining” caninclude resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

The term “determining” does not imply certainty or absolute precision,and therefore “determining” can include estimating, predicting, guessingand the like. The term “determining” does not imply that mathematicalprocessing must be performed, and does not imply that numerical methodsmust be used, and does not imply that an algorithm or process is used.The term “determining” does not imply that any particular device must beused. For example, a computer need not necessarily perform thedetermining.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “theembodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “someembodiments”, “certain embodiments”, “one embodiment”, “anotherembodiment” and the like mean “one or more (but not all) embodiments ofthe present invention”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The term “electronic message” and variations thereof used herein shouldbe understood to mean any electronic representation of information. Forexample an HTTP message, an XMLHTTP request, an SMS message, an MMSmessage, a database message (e.g., SQL message) or any other series ofelectrical signals that represent information may be considered anelectronic message. An electronic message may not include informationidentifying a source and/or destination such as the informationtypically present in a TCP/IP packet header. Rather, the electronicmessage may be considered to only include the body/content of such apacket.

The terms “representation” and “indication” of a thing and variationsthereof used herein in reference to a thing should be understood torefer to any indication of at least a portion and/or characteristic ofthe thing. An indication of information, for example, may include anyindication of at least a portion of the information. In someembodiments, the information may be determined by a person or computingdevice from the indication of the information. In some exampleimplementations, an indication may include a copy of the information inany of a variety of formats, compressions, and/or encryptions. Inanother example implementation, an indication may include an index orother identifier, such as a position in a list, an ID number, or adatabase key. An indication of a thing may be in the same or differentmedium as an original thing. For example, a number “1” may indicate asound, a color, a menu item, or any other thing depending, e.g., on theconfiguration of a computing system configured to interpret the number.In some implementations, an indication may be divided into a pluralityof portions, such as a plurality of electronic messages beingtransmitted from one location to another. In some implementations,multiple indications may be combined into a single message.

When a limitation is claimed that includes performing any act on anyinformation and/or any thing, such a limitation should be understood toinclude not only any action that performs the act on the informationand/or thing, but also any action that performs the act on a portion ofthe information and/or thing and performs some other action or no actionat all on another portion of the information and/or thing, unlessexplicitly specified otherwise. For example, a claim that includeslimitations of freezing a dripping alimentary composition into beads,should be understood to include both a process in which all of adripping alimentary compound is frozen into beads, and a process inwhich parts of a dripping alimentary compound are frozen into beads andparts of the dripping alimentary compound are not frozen into beads(e.g., they may be frozen into other non-bead shapes).

Forms of Sentences

Where a limitation of a first claim would cover one of a feature as wellas more than one of a feature (e.g., a limitation such as “at least onewidget” covers one widget as well as more than one widget), and where ina second claim that depends on the first claim, the second claim uses adefinite article “the” to refer to the limitation (e.g., “the widget”),this does not imply that the first claim covers only one of the feature,and this does not imply that the second claim covers only one of thefeature (e.g., “the widget” can cover both one widget and more than onewidget).

When an ordinal number (such as “first”, “second”, “third” and so on) isused as an adjective before a term, that ordinal number is used (unlessexpressly specified otherwise) merely to indicate a particular feature,such as to distinguish that particular feature from another feature thatis described by the same term or by a similar term. For example, a“first widget” may be so named merely to distinguish it from, e.g., a“second widget”. Thus, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers “first” and“second” before the term “widget” does not indicate any otherrelationship between the two widgets, and likewise does not indicate anyother characteristics of either or both widgets. For example, the mereusage of the ordinal numbers “first” and “second” before the term“widget” (1) does not indicate that either widget comes before or afterany other in order or location; (2) does not indicate that either widgetoccurs or acts before or after any other in time; and (3) does notindicate that either widget ranks above or below any other, as inimportance or quality. In addition, the mere usage of ordinal numbersdoes not define a numerical limit to the features identified with theordinal numbers (e.g., “a plurality of first widgets” indicates two ormore widgets that are distinct from other widgets). For example, themere usage of the ordinal numbers “first” and “second” before the term“widget” does not indicate that there must be no more than two widgets.

When a single device or article is described herein, more than onedevice/article (whether or not they cooperate) may alternatively be usedin place of the single device/article that is described. Accordingly,the functionality that is described as being possessed by a device mayalternatively be possessed by more than one device/article (whether ornot they cooperate).

Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein(whether or not they cooperate), a single device/article mayalternatively be used in place of the more than one device or articlethat is described. For example, a plurality of computer-based devicesmay be substituted with a single computer-based device. Accordingly, thevarious functionality that is described as being possessed by more thanone device or article may alternatively be possessed by a singledevice/article.

The functionality and/or the features of a single device that isdescribed may be alternatively embodied by one or more other deviceswhich are described but are not explicitly described as having suchfunctionality/features. Thus, other embodiments need not include thedescribed device itself, but rather can include the one or more otherdevices which would, in those other embodiments, have suchfunctionality/features.

Disclosed Examples and Terminology Are Not Limiting

Neither the Title (set forth at the beginning of the first page of thepresent application) nor the Abstract (set forth at the end of thepresent application) is to be taken as limiting in any way to the scopeof the present invention. An Abstract has been included in thisapplication merely because an Abstract of not more than 150 words isrequired under 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b).

The title of the present application and headings of sections providedin the present application are for convenience only, and are not to betaken as limiting the disclosure in any way.

Numerous embodiments are presented for illustrative purposes only. Thedescribed embodiments are not, and are not intended to be, limiting inany sense. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that thepresent invention may be practiced with various modifications andalterations, such as structural, logical, software, and electricalmodifications. Although particular features of the present invention maybe described with reference to one or more particular embodiments and/ordrawings, it should be understood that such features are not limited tousage in the one or more particular embodiments or drawings withreference to which they are described, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

Devices that are described as in communication with each other need notbe in continuous communication with each other, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit toeach other as necessary or desirable, and may actually refrain fromexchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine incommunication with another machine via the Internet may not transmitdata to the other machine for long periods of time (e.g., weeks at atime). In addition, devices that are in communication with each othermay communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components or features doesnot imply that all or even any of such components/features are required.On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described toillustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the presentinvention. Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no component/featureis essential or required.

Although process acts, algorithms or the like may be described in aparticular sequential order, such processes may be configured to work indifferent orders. In other words, any sequence or order of acts that maybe explicitly described does not necessarily indicate a requirement thatthe acts be performed in that order. The acts of processes describedherein may be performed in any order. Further, some acts may beperformed simultaneously despite being described or implied as occurringnon-simultaneously (e.g., because one act is described after the otheract). Further more, acts which are described as separate may beperformed as a single act in some embodiments. Moreover, theillustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not implythat the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations andmodifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process orany of its acts are necessary to the present invention, and does notimply that the illustrated process is preferred.

Although a process may be described as including a plurality of acts,that does not imply that all or any of the acts are preferred, essentialor required. Various other embodiments within the scope of the presentinvention may include other processes that omit some or all of thedescribed acts. Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no act isessential or required.

Although a process or product may be described singly or withoutreference to other processes or products, in some embodiments theprocess or product may interact with other processes or products. Forexample, such interaction may include linking one business model toanother business model. Such interaction may be provided to enhance theflexibility or desirability of the process.

An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does notimply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unlessexpressly specified otherwise. Likewise, an enumerated list of items(which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of theitems are comprehensive of any category, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. For example, the enumerated list “a computer, a laptop, aPDA” does not imply that any or all of the three items of that list aremutually exclusive and does not imply that any or all of the three itemsof that list are comprehensive of any category. Also, an enumerated listof items (which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any orall of the items are equivalent to each other or readily substituted foreach other.

The preambles of the claims that follow recite purposes, benefits andpossible uses of the claimed invention only and do not limit the claimedinvention. The present disclosure is not a literal description of allembodiments of the invention(s). Also, the present disclosure is not alisting of features of the invention(s) which must be present in allembodiments.

Computing

It should be appreciated that the various processes described herein maybe implemented by, e.g., appropriately programmed computer systems,e.g., general purpose computers 101 and/or computing devices 103, suchas those illustrated in FIG. 1. A computing device 103 may include aspecialized or general purpose computing device such as a cellularphone, a personal digital assistant, and/or any other portable ornon-portable computing system that is not a general purpose computer.Some embodiments may include performing one or more acts involving aproprietary handheld score keeper device. Such a device may include adisplay screen through which a user interface may be provided and one ormore input devices such as a keyboard and/or wireless or wired networkinterface through which information may be transmitted and/or received.

A “processor” 105 means one or more microprocessors, central processingunits (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors, application specific integrated circuits, or like devices orany combination thereof. A processor may include an Intel® Pentium®,Centrino®, and/or Core® processor. Typically, a processor 105 willreceive instructions (e.g., from a memory or like device), and executethose instructions, thereby performing one or more processes defined bythose instructions.

Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of anapparatus for performing the process. The apparatus that performs theprocess may include, e.g., a processor 105 and those input devicesand/or output devices (e.g., a keyboard 107, mouse, trackball,microphone, touch screen, printing device, display screen 109, speaker,network interface 111) that are appropriate to perform the process.

Further, programs (i.e., collections of instructions) that implementsuch methods (as well as other types of data) may be stored andtransmitted using a variety of media (e.g., machine-readable media) in anumber of manners. In some embodiments, hard-wired circuitry or customhardware may be used in place of, or in combination with, some or all ofthe software instructions that can implement the processes of variousembodiments. Thus, various combinations of hardware and software may beused instead of software only.

In some embodiments, processor 105 may execute an operating system whichmay include, for example, the Windows-based operating systems (e.g.,Windows NT, Windows 2000 (Windows ME), Windows XP, Windows Vista)available from the Microsoft Corporation, MAC OS System X operatingsystem available from Apple, one or more of the Linux-based operatingsystem distributions (e.g., the Enterprise Linux operating systemavailable from Red Hat, Inc.), the Solaris operating system availablefrom Sun Microsystems, or UNIX operating systems available from varioussources. Many other operating systems may be used, and the invention isnot limited to any particular operating system.

The processor and operating system together may define a computerplatform for which programs stored on a machine-readable medium may bewritten in various programming languages, including an object-orientedprogramming language, such as SmallTalk, Java, C++, Ada, Python, or C#(C-Sharp), functional programming languages, scripting programminglanguages such as JavaScript, and/or logical programming languages.Various aspects may be implemented in a non-programmed environment(e.g., documents created in HTML, XML or other format that, when viewedin a window of a browser program, render aspects of a GUI or performother functions). Some implementations may be implemented using aplurality of programming languages and techniques known collectively asAJAX to provide a user with an interactive web-based user interface.

Various embodiments may include a network environment including one ormore computing systems (e.g., general purpose computers 101, othercomputing devices 103) in communication through one or morecommunication networks (e.g., a LAN 119, the Internet 121). The computersystems may communicate directly or indirectly, via any wired orwireless medium (e.g., the Internet 121, LAN 119, WAN or Ethernet, TokenRing, a telephone line, a cable line, a radio channel, an opticalcommunications line, commercial on-line service providers, bulletinboard systems, a satellite communications link, cellular telephonenetworks, a WI-FI network, a Bluetooth communication link, a combinationof any of the above).

Various aspects (e.g., program elements stored on machine-readable mediaand executable by one or more processors) may be distributed among oneor more computer systems configured to provide a service to one or moreclient computer systems. For example, in some embodiments, a pluralityof computing systems may be organized as a central authority connectedto a LAN or other communication network. These computing systems mayreceive requests and other information from remote computing systemsthrough the Internet 121.

In some embodiments, one or more computer systems may act as one or moredatabase servers. The database server may respond to database requestssuch as structured query language (SQL) queries by providing access to adatabase (e.g., searching of the database, writing to the database). Thedatabase server may maintain one or more database tables havinginformation stored therein to facilitate the operation of someembodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates example sets of database tables that may be used insome embodiments to track and/or adjust points, as described in moredetail below. As illustrated, some embodiments may include a pointstable 201. The points table may store information regarding adistribution of points among a plurality of individuals. For example, asindicated in table 201 PERSON1 has been allocated 50 points, PERSON2 hasbeen allocated 55 points, and PERSON3 has been allocated 0 points.People may be added and/or removed by adding and/or removing table rows,respectively. Points allocated to one or more people may be adjusted bychanging (e.g., adding or subtracting) a value to one or more pointvalues in an appropriate entry of the points column. A table such astable 201 may be useful, for example, to track points among a group ofindividuals that share a common point pool (e.g., people in a commonparticipant group). For example, PERSON1, PERSON2, and PERSON3 may agreethat points may be assigned and adjusted among all three of themtogether. PERSON1, PERSON2, and PERSON3 may for example be friends,co-workers, acquaintances or otherwise associated. PERSON1, PERSON2, andPERSON3 may be participants in a single wager or a common group ofwagers. PERSON1, PERSON2, and PERSON3 may agree to be in a groupingbefore being placed in such a grouping. Some embodiments may include atable such as table 201 for each such grouping of people.

Some embodiments may include one or more database tables such as pointtable 203 and group table 205. Point table 203, similar to point table201 may maintain point allocations among a plurality of people. However,point table 203 may track points among a plurality of groups by tuplesthat indicate one or more people or groups in the points column. Forexample, PERSON1 has been allocated 25 points from PERSON2 and 25 pointsfrom the group of people defined by the identifier GROUP1. Group table205 may define one or more groups of people. A group identifier may beindicated in the groups column and a list of people in the groupidentified may be indicated in the people column. For example, GROUP1includes PERSON1, PERSON2, and PERSON3 in the illustrated group table205. Points associated with a particular group or a particular tuple ofpeople may be considered a set of points.

It should be recognized that the sets of database tables of FIG. 2 aregiven as examples only, and that other embodiments may include anydesired set of database tables or no database tables at all. Forexample, in some implementations, one or more database table may storepersonal information such as identification information, logininformation, and/or any other desired information.

Aside from database servers, in some embodiments, one or more computersystems may act as a web server. A web server may be configured torespond to network requests (e.g., HTTP messages, XMLHTTP requests) fromweb browsers executed by remote computer systems. For example, a webbrowser 123 executed by a computing system may direct an HTTP messagethrough the Internet 121 to an edge routing device 125 connected to theLAN 119. The edge routing device 125 may be configured to direct theHTTP message to the web server through the LAN 119. The web server mayprovide a response (e.g., an HTML document) to the web browser 123through the edge routing device 125 and Internet 121. The web server maybe configured to communicate with other computer systems (e.g., adatabase server) to generate responses to such a received request.

In some embodiments, a server computer/centralized authority may not benecessary or desirable. For example, an embodiment may be practiced onone or more computing devices without a central authority. In such anembodiment, any functions described herein as performed by a server ordata described as stored on a general purpose computer may instead beperformed by or stored on one or more such computing devices.

The term “machine-readable medium” refers to any medium thatparticipates in providing data (e.g., instructions, data structures)which may be read by a computer, a processor or a like device. Such amedium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatilemedia, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical or magnetic disks 113 and other persistentmemory. Volatile media include dynamic random access memory 115 (DRAM),which typically constitutes the main memory of a computer system.Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics,including the wires that comprise a system bus 117 coupled to theprocessor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves,light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generatedduring radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications.Common forms of machine-readable media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, a CD-ROM, a DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, a papertape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM,an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrierwave, or any other medium from which a computer system can read.

Various forms of machine-readable media may be involved in carrying data(e.g., sequences of instructions) to a processor. For example, data maybe (i) delivered from RAM to a processor; (ii) carried over a wirelesstransmission medium; (iii) formatted and/or transmitted according tonumerous formats, standards or protocols, such as Ethernet (or IEEE802.3), SAP, ATP, Bluetooth™, and TCP/IP, TDMA, CDMA, and 3G; and/or(iv) encrypted to ensure privacy or prevent fraud in any of a variety ofways well known in the art.

Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of amachine-readable medium storing a program for performing the process.The machine-readable medium can store (in any appropriate format) thoseprogram elements that are appropriate to perform the process.

Where a process is described, in some embodiments the process mayoperate without any user intervention. In other embodiments, the processincludes some human intervention (e.g., an act is performed by or withthe assistance of a human).

Just as the description of various acts in a process does not indicatethat all the described acts are required, embodiments of an apparatusmay include one or more computer systems operable to perform some (butnot necessarily all) of the described process.

Likewise, just as the description of various acts in a process does notindicate that all the described acts are required, embodiments of amachine-readable medium storing a program or data structure include amachine-readable medium storing a program that, when executed, can causeone or more processors to perform some (but not necessarily all) of thedescribed process.

Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to thosedescribed may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structuresbesides databases may be readily employed. Any descriptions of anysample databases presented herein are illustrative arrangements forstored representations of information. Any number of other arrangementsmay be employed besides those suggested herein. Further, any databaseformat (including relational databases, object-based models and/ordistributed databases) may be used to store and manipulate the datatypes described herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of adatabase may be used to implement processes described herein. Inaddition, the databases may, in a known or other manner, be storedlocally or remotely from a device which accesses data in such adatabase.

Continuing Applications

The present disclosure provides, to one of ordinary skill in the art, anenabling description of several embodiments and/or inventions. Some ofthese embodiments and/or inventions may not be claimed in the presentapplication, but may nevertheless be claimed in one or more continuingapplications that claim the benefit of priority of the presentapplication. Applicants intend to file additional applications to pursuepatents for subject matter that has been disclosed and enabled but notclaimed in the present application.

35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6

In a claim, a limitation of the claim which includes the phrase “meansfor” or the phrase “step for” means that 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6,applies to that limitation. In a claim, a limitation of the claim whichdoes not include the phrase “means for” or the phrase “step for” meansthat 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6 does not apply to that limitation,regardless of whether that limitation recites a function withoutrecitation of structure, material or acts for performing that function.For example, in a claim, the mere use of the phrase “step of” or thephrase “steps of” in referring to one or more steps of the claim or ofanother claim does not mean that 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, applies tothat step(s).

With respect to a means or a step for performing a specified function inaccordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, the correspondingstructure, material or acts described in the specification, andequivalents thereof, may perform additional functions as well as thespecified function.

Computers, processors, computing devices and like products arestructures that can perform a wide variety of functions. Such productscan be operable to perform a specified function by executing one or moreprograms, such as a program stored in a memory device of that product orin a memory device which that product accesses. Unless expresslyspecified otherwise, such a program need not be based on any particularalgorithm, such as any particular algorithm that might be disclosed inthe present application. It is well known to one of ordinary skill inthe art that a specified function may be implemented via differentalgorithms, and any of a number of different algorithms would be a meredesign choice for carrying out the specified function.

Therefore, with respect to a means or a step for performing a specifiedfunction in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, structurecorresponding to a specified function includes any product programmed toperform the specified function. Such structure includes programmedproducts which perform the function, regardless of whether such productis programmed with (i) a disclosed algorithm for performing thefunction, (ii) an algorithm that is similar to a disclosed algorithm, or(iii) a different algorithm for performing the function. Where there isrecited a means for performing a function hat is a method, one structurefor performing this method includes a computing device (e.g., a generalpurpose computer) that is programmed and/or configured with appropriatehardware to perform that function.

Also includes a computing device (e.g., a general purpose computer) thatis programmed and/or configured with appropriate hardware to performthat function via other algorithms as would be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art.

Disclaimer

Numerous references to a particular embodiment does not indicate adisclaimer or disavowal of additional, different embodiments, andsimilarly references to the description of embodiments which all includea particular feature does not indicate a disclaimer or disavowal ofembodiments which do not include that particular feature. A cleardisclaimer or disavowal in the present application shall be prefaced bythe phrase “does not include” or by the phrase “cannot perform”.

Incorporation By Reference

Any patent, patent application or other document referred to herein isincorporated by reference into this patent application as part of thepresent disclosure, but only for purposes of written description inaccordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 1 and enablement in accordancewith 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 1, and should in no way be used to limit,define, or otherwise construe any term of the present application wherethe present application, without such incorporation by reference, wouldnot have failed to provide an ascertainable meaning, but rather wouldhave allowed an ascertainable meaning for such term to be provided.Thus, the person of ordinary skill in the art need not have been in anyway limited by any embodiments provided in the reference

Exemplary Embodiments

Various embodiments disclosed herein relate to tracking points allocatedamong one or more people. In some embodiments, for example, a group ofpeople may enter into a wager. One or more winners of the wager may beallocated a number of points associated with the wager. Points may beadjusted later because of future wagers as well as non-wager events.Such embodiments may provide convenient and efficient ways of trackingboth wager related and non-wager related information.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process 300 that may be performed by someembodiments. Process 300 may be used to adjust at least one first amountof points associated with a plurality of participants in a wager basedon the outcome of the wager, and to adjust at least one second amount ofpoints associated with the plurality of participants based, at least inpart, on some external exchange or other event between at least two ofthe plurality of participants. In some implementations, one or morecomputer systems may perform one or more acts of process 300. Process300 may begin at block 301.

Although not indicated in FIG. 3, some embodiments may include receivinginformation about one or more individuals and/or groups. Suchinformation may include names, grouping information and/or other desiredinformation. Such information may be used, for example, to create one ormore database entries that allow a user and/or a group of users to betracked. In some implementations, a user interface, such as a web pageor mobile device interface may be provided through which a user mayenter such information. In some embodiments, one or more users mayidentify themselves and or their inclusion as part of a group throughsuch an interface, for example. In some implementations, one or moreother users, e.g., other members of a group, may be asked to approve anew user before he or she is added to a particular group.

In some implementations, users may be identified to each other whenparticipating in a wager together. For example, when playing an onlinecard game, each user may be identified by a name through a userinterface, so that users may know against whom they are playing even ifthey are not in the same location. In some implementations, users maynot be identified to each other. Rather, users may be able to enterwagers (e.g., play a card game) anonymously. In some implementations, auser may be able to choose whether he or she is identified or notidentified. In some implementations, users may be restricted to enteringinto wagers with people in their group so that even though during thewager (e.g., during the card game) one or more participants may beanonymous, users may be assured that all participants are in some wayknown or otherwise related to each other.

As indicated at block 303, process 300 may include receiving at leastone indication of at least one wager. The wager may be associated withan amount of points wagered and an event. The event may include, forexample, an outcome of a competition (e.g., a sport game, a virtualreality competition, a contest, an election, etc.), an outcome of a game(e.g., a card game, a slot machine pull, a die roll, fantasy sporting,etc.), an occurrence of a possible happening or fact (e.g., a randomnumber generation, a phone call, a stock market change, meeting exercisegoals, side bets on a game or competition, number of wins in a singleplayer game, a persons weight, a correct answer to a question, etc.), adecision by one or more trusted sources or judges (e.g., a court caseoutcome, determined looks of a significant other, etc.), and/or anyother desire event. Wagers may include fixed odds bets, spread bets,and/or any other bets.

In some embodiments, a wager may be “internal” to an embodiment. Forexample, an internal wager may include a wager that has an outcome thatis largely facilitated by the embodiment. For example, a web page mayboth track points in accordance with some embodiments and facilitate aninteractive card game through which participants may wager points basedon the outcome of the game. In various implementations, a card game mayinclude any game that may require a house or not require a house. Insome implementations, if a card game requires a house, one or moreparticipants may be determined to act as a house, the house may berotated among the participants so that each acts as the house in turn onconsecutive hands, and/or any other method of providing a house may beused.

In some embodiments, a wager may be “external” to an embodiment. Forexample, an external wager may include a wager that has an outcome thatis largely not facilitated by the embodiment. For example, twoparticipants may wager an amount of points on the outcome of a golf gameplayed between the two participants and/or any other physical event.

In some embodiments, wagers may be limited to members of a group. Bylimiting participants of a wager to members of a group, the participantsin the wager may be assured that they know or are in some way related toeach participant in the wager. In some implementations, one or moremembers of a group may sponsor a third party to participate in a wagerso that if the third party wins or loses, the sponsoring member mayreceive the benefit of wins and the detriment of loses.

Some embodiments may include providing a user interface, such as a webpage or mobile device interface, through which information about thewager may be entered. Such information may include informationidentifying an amount of points wagered, information identifyingparticipants in the wager, information identifying a point distributionto one or more winners of the wager, information identifying an eventand/or any other desired information. Such an interface may present arepresentation of ongoing and/or available wagers (e.g., games) and/orallow a user to enter into/create custom wagers between users in agroup. In some implementations, when a wager is created, a similar wagermay become available to other users in other groups and/or other usersin the same group. Such implementations, allows users from variousgroups to define wagers for other groups. In some implementations, aranking or positioning in a user interface of a wager defined by onegroup may be determined by a number of other groups that have enteredinto that wager. So, for example, a popular wager defined by one groupmay be positioned in a more prominent location than an unpopular wagerdefined by another group when an interface presents a listing of currentwagers.

In some embodiments, a user interface may be provided that includes agaming interface (e.g., online card game, etc.) through which a game isplayed and bets associated with the game (i.e., wagers) are placed. Insome implementations, such a game may include a game of skill and/or agame of chance. In some implementations, some or all points wagered maybe limited to one or more default values (e.g., antes). In someimplementations, some or all points wagered may be adjustable (e.g.,raises).

Although not indicated in FIG. 2, some implementations may includereceiving an acceptance of a wager. For example, a first participant ina wager may transmit an indication that a wager has been created to anembodiment, and/or an indication of an offer for a wager (e.g., a raisein a poker game). A second participant may later transmit an acceptanceof the created wager or of the offered wager.

As indicated at block 305, process 300 may include determining anoutcome of at least one wager. Determining the outcome of the wager mayinclude determining an outcome of the event associated with the wager.In some implementations, such a determination may include determiningthe outcome of an internal wager, such as determining the winner of ononline card game. In some implementations, such a determination mayinclude determining the outcome of an external wager, such asdetermining the winner of a golf game. Determining the outcome of anexternal wager may include, for example, receiving an indication of theoutcome of the external wager, e.g., from a participant in the externalwager, from a judge of the external wager, from a trusted source (e.g.,a sports reporter reporting sport bracket results), etc. A userinterface may be provided in some implementations that may allow entryof such information.

As indicated at block 307, process 300 may include allocating pointsamong participants of the at least one wager in accordance with thedetermined outcome of the at least one wager. Allocating points mayinclude, for example, adjusting a point value stored on a machinereadable medium, e.g., in one or more database tables, and associatedwith one or more of the participants. Allocating points may includeproviding points to one or more participants in the wager who aredetermined to be winners of the wager, e.g., at block 305 of process300. The number of points provided may be determined based oninformation identifying a point distribution associated with the wager,e.g., at block 303 of process 300, and/or a default point distribution,e.g., all points to winner none to others.

In some implementations, process 300 may loop to block 303 aftercompletion of block 307. By so looping, multiple wagers affectingmultiple different or similar participants may be completed and pointsmay be adjusted accordingly.

As indicated at block 309, process 300 may include receiving anindication of a point adjustment. The indication of the point adjustmentmay include, for example, an indication that an external event, such asan exchange of goods, services, money, etc., has occurred. Theindication may also be an indication of a correction to a prior error inpoint distribution. The indication may identify a participant in thewager and an amount of points to change. In some implementations, theindication of the adjustment may be received from one or moreparticipants in the wager or users associated with a group. In someimplementations, a user interface, e.g., a web page or mobile deviceinterface, may be provided through which a point adjustment may beentered by the one or more users.

The point adjustment may include a negative point adjustment, which maybe particularly useful to account for an external exchange of goods,services, and/or money. The point adjustment may include a positivepoint adjustment, which may be particularly useful, for example, when aparticipant desires to concede a wager, transfer points to anothermember of a group, correct a point tracking error, and/or otherwiseincrease points of a user.

As indicated at block 311, process 300 may include adjusting pointsallocated to at least one participant of the wager in accordance withthe point adjustment. An embodiment may adjust points associated withthe identified participant in response to receiving the indication ofthe point adjustment, for example, by changing a point value stored onone or more machine readable medium, e.g., in one or more databasetables. In some implementations, an adjustment may be performed after itis verified by all or some number of participants in a wager or membersof a group. Some implementations may transmit a verification request tosome participants, e.g., through email, through another user interface,etc. In some embodiments, a historic point value may also be maintained.Such a historic point value may represent a history of wins and lossesamong a group of participants without taking into account adjustmentsfrom external exchanges or other events. In some implementations, whensubmitting a request for a point adjustment, a user may indicate whetherthe point adjustment should affect the historic point value. This may beuseful for example so that points added, for example, due to aconcession or subtracted due to prior errors are adjusted in thehistoric point value, but points subtracted, for example, due to anexchange of goods or services are not reflected.

In some implementations, a mechanism for verifying point adjustments maybe used. For example, a message may be transmitted to users of a grouprequesting that they accept a point adjustment before the pointadjustment is made. In some implementations, codes may be used toauthenticate that point adjustments are valid. For example, a user maysubmit a verifying code when submitting a request to alter points. Sucha verifying code may be provided by another user (e.g., other groupmembers) to signify that the user is allowed to make the pointadjustment. Any mechanisms of generating and providing such codes tousers may be used. For example, the codes may be single use codesgenerated each time a user wants to authorize another user to make apoint adjustment, the codes may be reuseable codes associated with aparticular user (such as a PGP public key), or any other desired type ofcode may be used.

Process 300 may end at block 313. Process 300 may also loop back toeither block 309 for further point adjustments or block 303 for furtherwagers.

Although not indicated in FIG. 3, process 300 may include providing arepresentation of points allocated to one or more users. Therepresentation may include, for example a user interface such as a webpage or mobile device interface that displays points allocated to aparticular participant or participant group. Such ha representation maybe provided at any time during process 300, such as before/after anindication of a wager is received, before/after an indication of a pointadjustment is received, and/or at any other time.

Also not indicated in FIG. 3, process 300 may include providingmessaging functionality through one or more computer systems.Participants in a wager or in a group may interact with each otherthrough private messages, forums, community chat, and/or any othermethod. For example, in one implementations, a first participant maysend a message to a second participant saying “I am beating you.” Suchmessaging functionality may be facilitated using, for example, knownmethods such as email, SMS or MMS messaging, instant messagingtechnology, and/or any other new or known technology.

It should be understood that process 300 and any other actions describedabove are given as examples only. Other embodiments may includeadditional and/or alternative actions in any order.

An example iteration through process 300 may involve, for example, agroup of friends or other acquaintances. The group of individuals mayidentify themselves to an embodiment, for example through separate webpage interfaces accessed by respective individuals using respective webbrowsers. The group may access an interface through which wagers may beentered, for example an online poker room accessed through separate webbrowsers. The individuals may play one or more games through theinterfaces, for example, one or more hands of poker. Each game mayinclude one or more bets of some number of points, for example, an anteand raises in each poker game. The winner of each game may be determinedand allocated the bet of the number of points for each game, forexample, the winner of each hand of poker may be allocated the number ofpoints anted and raises matched for that hand.

After playing some number of games, the group may finish playing.Outside of the interface, one or more exchanges may occur. For example,one member of the group may purchase food for other members of thegroup, exchange money with other members of the group, perform a desiredservice for other members of the group, etc. In response to thisexchange, the members of the group may access the user interface andsubmit information indicating that points should be adjusted to reflectsome agreed upon change in points. An embodiment may verify thisadjustment with each member of the group before making the adjustment.

More Embodiments

A method comprising receiving a plurality of indications, eachrespective indication of the plurality of indications indicating arespective wager of a plurality of wagers, each respective wagerincluding a respective event, a respective amount of points wagered, andat least one respective participant; based, at least in part, onoutcomes of the respective events, determining a distribution of pointsamong participants of the plurality of wagers; receiving at least oneindication of a point adjustment; and adjusting points allocated to atleast one participant of the plurality of wagers based, at least inpart, on the point adjustment.

The method of paragraph 86, further comprising allocating the points inaccordance with the distribution of points.

The method of paragraph 87, in which allocating includes storinginformation about the points on at least one machine readable medium.

The method of paragraph 86, in which adjusting includes at least one ofan addition and a subtraction of points associated with the at least oneparticipant.

The method of paragraph 86, in which at least one wager of the pluralityof wagers includes a distribution plan that indicates how points shouldbe distributed among at least one winner of the at least one wager.

The method of paragraph 90, in which determining the distribution ofpoints among the participants of the plurality of wagers includesdetermining the distribution of points among the participants of theplurality of wagers based at least in part on the distribution plan.

The method of paragraph 86, in which the plurality of indications areeach received from at least one respective participant.

The method of paragraph 92, further comprising receiving at least oneacceptance of a respective wager of the plurality of wagers from atleast one second participant of the respective wager.

The method of paragraph 86, further comprising providing at least oneuser interface.

The method of paragraph 94, in which the at least one user interfaceincludes at least one of an interface through which informationregarding at least one of the plurality of wagers may be entered, aninterface through which at least one game associated with at least onewager may be played, an interface through which information regardingthe at least one point adjustment may be entered, and an interfacethrough which a representation of a current point distribution may beviewed.

The method of paragraph 86, further comprising presenting at least onerepresentation of a current point distribution.

The method of paragraph 86, in which at least one respective eventincludes at least one of an outcome of a game, an outcome of acompetition, an occurrence of a possible happening, and a decision.

The method of paragraph 97, in which the game includes at least one of agame of chance and a game of skill.

The method of paragraph 86, further comprising receiving informationregarding at least one participant in at least one wager of theplurality of wagers.

The method of paragraph 99, in which the information includes at leastone of identification information, and information identifying a groupof associated participants.

The method of paragraph 86, further comprising determining the outcomesof the respective events.

The method of paragraph 101, in which determining the outcomes includesreceiving an indication of the outcomes.

The method of paragraph 86, in which the at least one indication of thepoint adjustment includes an indication that an event occurred.

The method of paragraph 86, in which the at least one indication of thepoint adjustment includes an indication of an exchange between at leasttwo respective participants.

The method of paragraph 104, in which the exchange includes at least oneof an exchange of goods, an exchange of services, and an exchange ofmoney.

The method of paragraph 104, in which the point adjustment includes adecrease in points distributed to a first one of the at least tworespective participants.

The method of paragraph 86, further comprising, verifying the pointadjustment with at least one of the participants.

An apparatus comprising at least one machine readable medium, the atleast one machine readable medium having stored thereon a plurality ofmachine instructions, the plurality of machine instructions togetherbeing able to control at least one computer system to perform a methodaccording to paragraph 86.

The apparatus of paragraph 108, further comprising at least oneprocessor configured to execute at least one instruction of theplurality of machine instructions.

A method comprising receiving an indication of a wager, the wagerincluding an event, an amount of points wagered, and at least twoparticipants; based, at least in part, on an outcome of the event,allocating at least a portion of the amount of points wagered betweenthe at least two participants; receiving at least one indication of apoint adjustment; and adjusting points allocated to at least one of theat least two participants based, at least in part, on the pointadjustment.

The method of paragraph 110, in which allocating includes storinginformation about the points on at least one machine readable medium.

The method of paragraph 110, in which adjusting includes at least one ofan addition and a subtraction of points associated with the at least oneparticipant.

The method of paragraph 110, in which the wager includes a distributionplan that indicates how points should be distributed among at least onewinner of the wager.

The method of paragraph 113, in which allocating includes determining adistribution of points among the at least two participants based atleast in part on the distribution plan.

The method of paragraph 110, in which the indication of the wager isreceived from at least one respective participant of the at least twoparticipants.

The method of paragraph 115, further comprising receiving at least oneacceptance of the wager from at least one second participant of the atleast two participants.

The method of paragraph 110, further comprising providing at least oneuser interface.

The method of paragraph 117, in which the at least one user interfaceincludes at least one of an interface through which informationregarding the wager may be entered, an interface through which at leastone game associated with the wager may be played, an interface throughwhich information regarding the point adjustment may be entered, and aninterface through which a representation of a current point distributionmay be viewed.

The method of paragraph 110, further comprising presenting at least onerepresentation of a current point distribution.

The method of paragraph 110, in which the event includes at least one ofan outcome of a game, an outcome of a competition, an occurrence of apossible happening, and a decision.

The method of paragraph 120, in which the game includes at least one ofa game of chance and a game of skill.

The method of paragraph 110, further comprising receiving informationregarding at least one participant of the at least two participants.

The method of paragraph 122, in which the information includes at leastone of identification information, and information identifying a groupof associated participants.

The method of paragraph 110, further comprising determining the outcomeof the event.

The method of paragraph 124, in which determining the outcome includesreceiving an indication of the outcome.

The method of paragraph 110, in which the at least one indication of thepoint adjustment includes an indication that an event occurred.

The method of paragraph 110, in which the at least one indication of thepoint adjustment includes an indication of an exchange between at leasttwo respective participants of the at least two participants.

The method of paragraph 127, in which the exchange includes at least oneof an exchange of goods, an exchange of services, and an exchange ofmoney.

The method of paragraph 127, in which the point adjustment includes adecrease in points distributed to a first one of the at least tworespective participants.

The method of paragraph 110, further comprising, verifying the pointadjustment with at least one of the participants.

An apparatus comprising at least one machine readable medium, the atleast one machine readable medium having stored thereon a plurality ofmachine instructions, the plurality of machine instructions togetherbeing able to control at least one computer system to perform a methodaccording to paragraph 110.

The apparatus of paragraph 131, further comprising at least oneprocessor configured to execute at least one instruction of theplurality of machine instructions.

A method comprising adjusting at least one first amount of points of aset of amounts of points associated with a plurality of participants,based, at least in part, on at least one outcome of at least one wagerinvolving at least a portion of the plurality of participants; andadjusting at least one second amount of points of the set of amounts ofpoints based, at least in part, on at least one exchange between atleast two of the plurality of participants.

The method of paragraph 133, in which adjusting the at least one firstamount of points includes storing information about the set of amountsof points on at least one machine readable medium.

The method of paragraph 133, in which adjusting the at least one secondamount of points includes storing information about the set of amountsof points on at least one machine readable medium.

The method of paragraph 133, in which adjusting the at least one secondamount of points includes at least one of an addition and a subtraction.

The method of paragraph 133, in which the at least one wager includes adistribution plan that indicates how points should be distributed amongat least one winner of the at least one wager.

The method of paragraph 137, in which adjusting the at least one firstamount of points includes adjusting the at least one first amount ofpoints based at least in part on the distribution plan.

The method of paragraph 133, further comprising, receiving at least oneindication of the at least one wager.

The method of paragraph 133, in which the indication of the wager isreceived from at least one of the plurality of participants.

The method of paragraph 133, further comprising providing at least oneuser interface.

The method of paragraph 141, in which the at least one user interfaceincludes at least one of an interface through which informationregarding the at least one wager may be entered, an interface throughwhich at least one game associated with the at least one wager may beplayed, an interface through which information regarding the at lest oneexchange may be entered, and an interface through which a representationof a current point distribution may be viewed.

The method of paragraph 133, further comprising presenting at least onerepresentation of a current point distribution.

The method of paragraph 133, in which the event includes at least one ofan outcome of a game, an outcome of a competition, an occurrence of apossible happening, and a decision.

The method of paragraph 144, in which the game includes at least one ofa game of chance and a game of skill.

The method of paragraph 133, further comprising receiving informationregarding at least one participant of the plurality of participants.

The method of paragraph 146, in which the information includes at leastone of identification information, and information identifying a group,the group comprising the plurality of participants.

The method of paragraph 133, further comprising determining the outcomeof the at least one wager.

The method of paragraph 148, in which determining the outcome includesreceiving an indication of the outcome.

The method of paragraph 133, in which the exchange includes at least oneof an exchange of goods, an exchange of services, and an exchange ofmoney.

The method of paragraph 133, further comprising, verifying an occurrenceof the exchange with at least one of the participants.

The method of paragraph 133, in which the at least one first amount ofpoints includes the at least one second amount of points.

An apparatus comprising at least one machine readable medium, the atleast one machine readable medium having stored thereon a plurality ofmachine instructions, the plurality of machine instructions togetherbeing able to control at least one computer system to perform a methodaccording to paragraph 110.

The apparatus of paragraph 153, further comprising at least oneprocessor configured to execute at least one instruction of theplurality of machine instructions.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by at leastone computer processor in electronic communication with at least onememory, an indication from a remote device via a network, the indicationcomprising data indicative of a wager on an event, an amount of pointswagered, and a plurality of participants in the wager; in response toreceiving the indication, generating in the memory, by the at least onecomputer processor, a table with a points column; associating, by the atleast one computer processor, the table with the plurality ofparticipants; receiving, by the at least one computer processor, atleast one indication of a point adjustment among the plurality ofparticipants; and updating, by the at least one computer processor, thepoints column of the table in the memory, in response to receiving theat least one indication of the point adjustment.
 2. The method of claim1, further comprising allocating, by the at least one computerprocessor, the points in the points column in accordance with adistribution of points.
 3. The method of claim 1, in which adjustingincludes at least one of an addition and a subtraction of points in thepoints column by the at least one computer processor.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, in which the indication further comprises data indicative of adistribution plan that indicates how points should be distributed amongat least one winner of the wager.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving, by the at least one computer processor, at leastone acceptance of the wager via the network from at least one otherremote device.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving,by the at least one computer processor, information regarding at leastone participant in at least one wager of the plurality of wagers.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, in which the information includes at least one ofidentification information, and information identifying a group ofassociated participants.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, by the at least one processor, data indicative of an outcomeof the event; and transmitting, by the at least one processor, at leastone representation of a current point distribution.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, in which the at least one indication of the point adjustmentincludes an indication that an event occurred, further comprisingverifying the point adjustment with at least one of the participants.10. The method of claim 1, in which the at least one indication of thepoint adjustment includes an indication of an exchange between at leasttwo respective participants.
 11. The method of claim 10, in which theexchange includes at least one of an exchange of goods, an exchange ofservices, and an exchange of money.
 12. The method of claim 11, in whichthe point adjustment includes a decrease in points distributed to afirst one of the at least two respective participants.
 13. An apparatuscomprising: a memory; at least one processor to receive an indicationfrom a remote device via a network, the indication comprising dataindicative of a wager on an event, an amount of points wagered, and aplurality of participants in the wager; in response to receiving theindication, generate in the memory a table with a points column;associate the table with the plurality of participants; receive at leastone indication of a point adjustment among the plurality ofparticipants; and update the points column of the table in the memory,in response to receiving the at least one indication of the pointadjustment.
 14. A non-transitory computer readable medium withinstructions stored therin which upon execution instruct at leastprocessor to: receive an indication from a remote device via a network,the indication comprising data indicative of a wager on an event, anamount of points wagered, and a plurality of participants in the wager;in response to receiving the indication, generate in a memory a tablewith a points column; associate the table with the plurality ofparticipants; receive at least one indication of a point adjustmentamong the plurality of participants; and update the points column of thetable in the memory, in response to receiving the at least oneindication of the point adjustment.